“Last Living Souls” and “Kids With Guns” argue problems can’t be solved with firearms. “El Mañana” seems eager to connect with God. Fans are told to live with passion on “Demon Days,” which warns, “When lies become reality/You numb yourself with drugs and TV/So pick yourself up; it’s a brand-new day/So turn yourself ’round.”
Sadly, other songs and grim liner art send a less upbeat message. The anti-war sentiment on “Dirty Harry” is clothed in an apparent glorification of violence. “White Light” simply repeats the words “white light” and “alcohol.” The pantheistic “O Green World” states that sex and drugs make one feel holy. The singer speaks of doing a line of cocaine and calls his ex a “ho” (“Don’t Get Lost in Heaven”). Profanities (a–, s—) scar the random word-slinging on “Feel Good Inc.” “Fire Coming Out of the Monkey’s Head” is a fable narrated by actor Dennis Hopper about peaceloving island folk slaughtered by greedy invaders.
This fictional band is a gothic punk/manga cartoon illustrated by Jamie Hewlett, the creator of the Tank Girl comics. But unlike Alvin and the Chipmunks, his novelty act paints a bizarrely ambiguous rendering of a seedy world steeped in drugs and violence.
